Sam Weiss did most of her damage around the goal this season. She scored a Fort Lewis College women’s soccer single-season record with 17 goals, which tied for the league lead and landed her on the All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference first team.

Jerry McBride/Durango Herald file photo

Sam Weiss did most of her damage around the goal this season. She scored a Fort Lewis College women’s soccer single-season record with 17 goals, which tied for the league lead and landed her on the All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference first team.

Sam Weiss’ career year earned her conference honors. And she brought some friends with her.

Weiss earned All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference first-team honors for the Fort Lewis College women’s soccer team, while Elena Benavides and Madyson Wellcome ended up on the second team and Lauren Riley and Megan Striedel on the third.

Weiss was a force all year for the Skyhawks (13-4-3), who narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament. The sophomore broke the FLC single-season goals record with 17 – tying RMAC Offensive Player of the Year Anna Evans of Colorado Mines for first in the league – and finished with a school-record 42 total points. Weiss had a pair of hat tricks this season, as well.

“Sam has been a menace to opposing defenses all year. She deserves the recognition,” FLC head coach Damian Clarke said in a news release.

Benavides was the engine that made the FLC attack go as a senior central midfielder. She led the team with 10 assists, the third-best total in school history for a single season.

“In my opinion, she is the best passing player in the RMAC,” Clarke said.

Wellcome, a junior defender, earned all-league honors for the third consecutive season, finishing on the second team for the second year in a row to go with a third-team nod as a freshman. She scored her first career goal this season and again was an anchor on a team that outscored the opposition 47-20 and had 11 shutouts.

Riley earned her second All-RMAC nod by pairing with Wellcome in the central defense to help post those same solid defensive numbers.

“Madyson is probably the most consistent player we have. ... Lauren is our best all-around athlete,” Clarke said.

Striedel earned her second consecutive league award, scoring five times and adding three assists as an outside midfielder for the Skyhawks.

“Megan has a determination and bite that make her an impact in nearly every match,” Clarke said.

Regis defender Alison Cahill earned Defensive Player of the Year honors, while teammate Sade Akindele – the younger sister of the RMAC and South Central Region Player of the Year, Tesho Akindele of Colorado Mines – picked up the league’s top freshman title. Regis coach J.B. Belzer was tabbed the top bench boss in the league, while UC-Colorado Springs goalkeeper Kelly Schroeder picked up Goalkeeper of the Year accolades.